Atlanta Hawks Breakdown: Hawks Still Lack Composure To Contend

Atlanta’s 93-91 loss against the Nets certainly was a tough one—blowing a 20-point halftime lead and falling in overtime on a Vince Carter 40-foot buzzer-beater is certainly a rough way to go down.

Even though the Hawks would’ve won had Carter’s prayer gone answered, the loss reveals that the Hawks are close in terms of talent to competing in the East. But still lack the requisite composure required to do postseason damage. Their lack of maturity could be seen in the way they played each half.

First Half

The Hawks based their offense on spreading the floor and getting their wings in iso situations where they could use their individual talents to break down individual defenders and force the Nets defense to scramble.

They spread the floor, and ran numerous down-screens and up-screens to pop a guard or forward along the wing, while sending a high flier to the hoop looking for lob passes.

Except for a few post ups for Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia, and a handful of screen-rolls for Mike Bibby, isolations were Atlanta’s exclusive play calls.

Still, Atlanta’s offense was successful because Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Joe Johnson were able to beat their man off the dribble forcing the Nets to help. If the Hawks didn’t find easy layups, they were more than willing to move the ball to find an easier shot. That unselfishness was the key to Atlanta’s halfcourt offense.

Much of their offense stemmed from their defense. Because of the similarity in athleticism and talent of their wings, the Hawks switched all their screen/rolls, forcing the Nets into long contested shots, leading to long rebounds triggering Atlanta’s break.

If the Hawks baseline rotations when fronting strong side lobs were faulty, they clogged the lane well on dribble penetration and were active in closing out on shooters.

They also pressured passing lanes, and swiped at loose dribbles, leading to more turnovers and a potent fast break.

The main catalyst for all this was Josh Smith. Smith’s ability to lock up Yi Jianlian, make timely closeouts, pressure everyone, fill lanes on the break, drive and finish, drive and pass, and play with the maturity of a veteran paced the Hawks to a 49-29 lead.

However…

Second Half

…It all changed after halftime.

The Nets were much more astute with their screens in finding mismatches with Atlanta’s screen/rolls and exploiting them. Like Josh Smith on Devin Harris, Mike Bibby on Vince Carter, etc.

Forced to scramble, Atlanta couldn’t close out on time on New Jersey’s three-pointer shooters. Any skip pass and second pass found a wide open three in the corner.

The offense also stagnated. Instead of isolating to drive and then looking to pass, the Hawks would iso, stand around, and force jumpers or drives into traffic.

The Hawks poor play was magnified by Smith’s mistakes, most notably:

• Dropping a pass that landed in his lap.
• Cheating by trying to strip Harris off an inbounds pass leading to a wide open Bobby Simmons three.
• Not throwing a hand up on a Vince Carter three in transition.
• Driving into traffic and getting his shot swatted by Carter.
• Not closing out on a Bobby Simmons made three in the corner.
• Making a bad dribble for a turnover.
• Trying to strip Harris in the backcourt and getting stuck chasing behind him, leading to his own man, Jarvis Hayes, trailing behind Smith and hitting a three.
• Missing a layup at the rim.
• Forcing a bounce pass into traffic, leading to a turnover.
• Getting bodied by Josh Boone on the backboards, leading to a number of Nets' offensive rebounds.
• Missing three-of four fourth quarter free throws.
• Another high dribble by Smith got stripped by Harris.
• Smith’s jumper taking an awfully long time to be released. He only hit three of his seven jump shot attempts. The majority of his misses bad ones, and the bulk of his makes coming only after holding the ball and with ample room to shoot.

Smith made up slightly for his mistakes my making a pair of solid rotations in overtime. And pressuring Devin Harris in an automatic foul scenario. This lead to a huge steal and finish on the break to give the Hawks the lead with ten seconds to go.

Still, what the second half showed is that Smith still doesn’t have the maturity to play disciplined basketball for a full 48 minutes, especially on the road.

What else can be determined about the Hawks?

Al Horford is strong, finishes well, and eats space when setting up down low, defending the post, or setting up for a rebound. But he isn’t tall enough to be a center.

Marvin Williams has evolved into a solid on-ball defender, but screens wipe him away.

Joe Johnson too often lets the defense dictate where he should go and what he should do. That’s one of the reasons he picks up so many assists (nine), but also one of the reasons why he isn’t a super-duper star like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.

Also, Johnson tends to not be ultra-aggressive at times. With the game tied late in the fourth and Devin Harris matched up defensively, Johnson dribbled casually in place on the left wing, posted up Harris nonchalantly, and then turned into a baseline jumper that was swatted away by Harris.

Johnson needs to aggressively punish mismatches putting defenders in compromising positions instead of giving them the opportunity to contest (or block) his shot attempts.

Both Johnson and Mike Bibby see everything that is happening all the time, and are dead-eye shooters,

Mario West made his 12 seconds of playing time count by picking up a loose ball and putting it in the hoop from halfcourt.

Zaza Pachulia can block uncreative shot attempts, rebound, and set decent screens, but he’s also one of the clumsiest players in the league. And one of the most inept offensively.

Maurice Evans can defend and score. He tag-teamed with Smith on stripping Harris and dishing to Smith for the Hawks go-ahead score late in overtime.

Flip Murray is another scorer de jour. 

What do the Hawks need in order to sky high with the NBA’s elite?

• More toughness on screens so they don’t have to end up with unfavorable mismatches.
• A true center, and an upgrade over Pachulia
• A backup point guard
• Better handles and strength for Smith
• Most importantly, what the Hawks need most is internal. Mental toughness under adversity. Composure. Discipline. The ability to not panic when another team makes runs.

If Smith can find it in himself to be consistently reliable all the time, then the Hawks are only a couple of players way from being ready to truly challenge for an Eastern Conference crown. If not, the Hawks will never spread their wings and soar with the best of the NBA.